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Italo-Greeks

Do you know anything about this group? Their bishop, a Metropolitan Stephen (not sure of his surname), says that his group is derived from the Auxentios synod via Timotheos (Athanassiou), with whom he maintains communion[1]. —[[User:ASDamick|—Fr. Andrewtalkcontribs(THINK!)]] 07:22, 22 Jul 2005 (EDT)

I might know a little :)

Metropolitan Stephen (Enea) was made a Bishop by Timotheos (Athanassiou), whose relations to the Auxentios Synod are questionable, but quite possible. Whatever the case may be about their relations, Auxentios would have received Timotheos into communion, who if I am not mistaken, comes from the succession of Joachim (Souris), who was made a Bishop in 1951 by five ecclesiastically detached, independent Orthodox Bishops in America for the TOC of Greece (this actually does make logical sense, as at that point the Matthewites had Bishops, and the Florinites were looking for Bishops everywhere possible to avoid having to join the Matthewites).

That Auxentios received Timotheos years later in is indeed probable. Auxentios was famous for receiving, well, just about anyone in, which is why two Synods deposed him. Whatever the case may be, Timotheos was not there long, and reverted to independence. Groups that join him, for the most part, are usually Chalcedonian and less "freaky" than other groups, which is something to say in his defense.

Metropolitan Stephen, who I knew as Father Stephen by email way back when, does actually take care of real Italo-Greek communities. However, Fr Stephen says that the argument made by independent Bishop Luciano Gaudio (who I spoke to on the phone) that the Italo-Greeks had married Bishops for 500 years is a myth, which he propagated in Melton. (Melton, Encyclopedia of American Religions: Eastern Liturgical Family). Anyway, so this had gone on a while, and Father Stephen had kept these communities under Athanassiou for all this time, so... it follows he would become a Bishop after a few years. Unlike most independent Bishops, he actually sounds little different than, say, Metropolitan Philip. Unlike most independent Bishops as well, he actually has a cathedral. I'm sure this situation will clean itself up. He's a pretty committed and genuine guy.

As for the canonicity of his communities, I don't know. I'd ask him.

But if you value him being part of the Auxentios Synod, that's fine. I think Metropolitan Stephen is old calendar but has no preference.

Thanks for this info! Perhaps we could work up an entry here for this group.

BTW, in the future if you want me to see a response, it's best to put it on my own Talk page so that I'll get a notification. (I do often look to see what other Talk activity there is, but may miss something if it's not on my own page.) —[[User:ASDamick|—Fr. Andrewtalkcontribs(THINK!)]] 08:39, 16 Aug 2005 (EDT)